The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) has published a report that compiles public opinions on the “Macau Tourism Industry Development Master Plan,” based on the almost 1,200 local opinions collected during the public consultation period.

The 1,185 responses were collected during a two-month public consultation for the Master Plan held between May 23 and July 22 last year.

According to a statement published by MGTO, “most” of the opinions were solicited through exchange sessions for local trade and organizations (28.7 percent), email (17.6 percent) and by mail (12.2 percent). MGTO did not clarify the other means of gathering the opinions, which would account for around 58.5 percent of the respondents.

The opinions were organized and divided into 11 major categories comprising of 51 subcategories. Among the opinions, the highest degree of concern was given to three major categories in the following order: tourism resources and products, city development, and tourism source markets and target segments.

According to MGTO, respondents in particular expressed concern about the diversity of local tourism products and measures to attract more high-value visitors to the city, as well as the development of urban areas.

The research team behind the collection of responses and the subsequent analysis “mapped out corresponding action plans” to respond to suggestions outlined in the consolation report, “hoping to foster comprehensive tourism development in different fields.”

The team will now explore the feasibility of these projects through studies and discussions with relevant departments, before publishing the final Master Plan with several amendments. It is expected to be ready in mid-2017.

The Master Plan is intended to promote sustainable tourism development in the city and realize the government’s vision of the transformation of Macau into a “World Center of Tourism and Leisure.” Its ultimate objective is to “lay a key foundation and direction for [the tourism industry’s] future development in the next 15 years.”

Following the current guidelines on public consultations on government policies, the compilation report has been made available to the general public within 180 days after the end of the consultation period. This marked the conclusion of the first stage of compiling the report – namely the process of data collection and analysis – and of the second stage that included the report on the results of the public consultation period.

MGTO noted that, in an effort to support environmental protection, the office encourages interested parties to download the compilation report from its website. Alternatively, a limited number of printed copies will also be made available to the public at various government offices and public libraries in the MSAR from mid-January. DB

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